Collaboration Research Project

Title: What is The Right Stuf to Make an American Hero?

Subject/Grade Level: 11th Grade US History II
Length of lesson: 2 week span
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Will meet with teacher for several days beforehand for

planning.
One day will be spent on laying out background knowledge.
6 days will be spent reading the text and working through the
guided-discussion questions.
3 days will be spent building the essay (assessment).
Will meet with teacher after the lesson to reflect on changes
that need to be made for the future and to evaluate the
assessments.

Materials needed:
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A classroom book set of The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

DVD mini-series set of From Earth to the Moon
Guiding-reading question copies
Rubric for essay
Background knowledge PowerPoint
America in Space book
Theatrical trailer links for The Right Stuff and From Earth to the Moon

Type of Instruction:
The class will mostly be responsible for reading and will be guided in small
guided-reading discussion groups. This will be enhanced with some formal lecture
by the classroom teacher. The library media specialist will be available to display a
showcase essay, as well as provide support for essay construction.
Standards:
2010 Alabama Course of Study
12. Describe major initiatives of the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
Administrations.
Describing Alabama's role in the space program under the New Frontier
(Alabama)
Examples: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), space
race, satellites

15. Describe changing social and cultural conditions in the United States
during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Before Lesson
Library media specialist will:

read and familiarize self with The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Pull relevant books and other resources from the librarys catalog
Secure a complete classroom set of The Right Stuff
Assist the classroom teacher in constructing guided reading questions for the
small groups to answer as they read.
Assist the teacher in the creation of an essay question that allows the
students to be assessed on the standards covered.
Make copies of the guided reading questions.
Create an example essay that gives students a quality model.
Help create a rubric to assess the essay question.

The classroom teacher will:

read and familiarize self with The Right Stuf by Tom Wolfe
Construct guided reading questions for the small groups to answer as they
read.
Create an essay question that allows the students to be assessed on the
standards covered.
Create a rubric to assess the essay question.
Make sure audio-visual equipment is functioning properly.
Create a PowerPoint or other digital media project that showcases the
backdrop for the beginning of the space race. This should include concepts
from the Cold War (should tie-in with already covered standards). It should
also highlight Americas great need for a new generation of heroes during this
time.
Gather theatrical trailers for The Right Stuff and From Earth to the Moon.
Create small groups that will work most productively together.

During Lesson
The library media specialist will:

Provide additional supplemental resources that connect with the Space Race.
Provide mini-lessons as needed on research strategies like using Boolean
operators.
Assist students in the use of the chosen research format.
Help guide discussion during small group times.

The classroom teacher will:

Display clips of media that will enrich the reading of students, including
sections of HBOs miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.
Help guide discussion during small group times.
Facilitate classroom (large-group) discussion about the readings (some
classroom reading and some homework) before students more specifically
discuss and answer in small groups.
Guide the students to important segments of the book that will help them as
they answer the big question about what makes a hero?

After lesson
The library media specialist will:

Help guide students to resources that will help them as they produce their
essays.
Help students with the construction of in-text citations and reference pages.
Assist the teacher in assessing the students essays.
Provide additional resources to enrich learning for students still interested in
the topic.
Reflect on the experience.

The classroom teacher will:

Assess the students through graded essays based on the rubric previously
created.
Reflect on the experience.
Make changes as necessary to the lesson/unit plan.

Lesson Activity List

Introduction

Classroom teacher presents background knowledge PowerPoint relating to the

Cold War, the arms race and the need for heroism.
Class discussion about what a hero is.
Class turns in their personal definition of hero.

Main Body

Students work their way through The Right Stuff, answering guided-reading
questions in small groups.
Classroom teacher provides some lecture at diferent big, climatic points.
Library media specialist provides essay-building suggestions as students
create thesis statements.

Closing

Students build an essay around the theme of American Heroism. LMS and
classroom teacher provide support for formatting. LMS provides example
essay.

Assessment
Students will be assessed on their learning by answering guided-reading questions
in small groups. Each group member will be responsible for being a productive
member of the group and participation will be a percentage of the grade. The
teacher and media specialist will ensure that the group stays on task and that
everyone participates by prompting the students during guided-discussion times.
Finally, students will individually build an essay around the characteristics of a hero.
They will choose a man from The Right Stuff and will build a case for him as an
American hero in a time when the country was in need of heroes. The essay will be
assessed via a rubric created by the library media specialist and the classroom
teacher.

References
Baker, W. (1987). NASA: America in space. New York: Crescent Books.
This book will be an eye-opening addition to the materials of the lesson. It
uses a plethora of images from the events surrounding the astronauts, which will
enrich the students understanding of what these events looked like in real life.
Sometimes history can seem irrelevant to students because it seems so long ago,
but these colorful pictures and detailed caption will help bring the story to life.
Hanks, T., Searcy, N., Smith, L., Andrews, D., & Kelly, D. H. (1998). From Earth to
Moon [DVD] [2005]
[Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]. Hbo Home Video.
This HBO mini-series details the whole process of the Space Race and Space
Age. The DVD can bring to life many of the elements of Wolfes The Right Stuff.
The DVD is full of suspenseful situations around the space program that are so wild
that they seem fictional, which will further help to help the students understand
how heroic the astronauts were.
Hedeen, J. (2010). Why teach with biographies? Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved
from
http://www.indianahistory.org/teachers-students/teacher-resources/classroomtools/Why%20Teach%20with%20Biographies.pdf
This article helped me and could help the teacher understand the importance
of using biographies to enrich the history classroom. Biographies help students to
explore the big picture through the lens of individual. They give historical events a
human element as well, allowing students to relate more closely to these real life
events.
Wolfe, T. (1980). The right stuf. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.
This book gives some fascinating biographical accounts of several diferent
men and their plights as danger-filled test pilots and Mercury 7 astronauts. The
book will help students look at the diferent characteristics of the men that Wolfe
says had the right stuf. It will help the students gain this understanding as they
prepare to write an essay.